Global Brief: Aug 24 – Aug 30
Treasury opened sanctions on five sectors of Iran's economy at once. Hours earlier, Syria came off the terrorism list. One office made both decisions.
Nick Dimmer
Nick Dimmer writes Life Sufficient, an independent publication on geopolitics, money, privacy, and resilience. A software engineer by background, he reads central bank documents and government reports so you don't have to.
Europe's rearmament: what the ECB knows and what it doesn't
Published estimates of what a euro of defence spending does to GDP range from minus 2.5 to plus 3.5. The ECB put that slide in its own presentation.
Global Brief: Aug 17 – Aug 23
Washington sanctioned a court, a government and a drug fleet in three days. Ukraine's occupied nuclear plant ran out of power lines. See what connects them.
Global Brief: Aug 10 – Aug 16
Washington taxed drones and rebuilt its shipyards by decree, Europe moved to board Russian tankers, and Beijing passed 1,242 articles of environmental law.
Global Brief: Aug 3 – Aug 9
Washington bought into mines, froze Iranian crypto rails and narrowed birthright citizenship. The thread connecting three very different moves in one week.
Global Brief: Jul 27 – Aug 2
A ceasefire signed in June collapsed, Ukraine struck a nuclear plant and an oil terminal, and Washington declared scrap metal essential to national defense.
Global Brief: Jul 20 - Jul 26
Trump threatened Iran's power plants. Brussels paused its own climate penalties over the same shortage. The connection, and what to watch next week.
Global Brief: Jul 13 – Jul 19
The US widened Iran oil sanctions, expanded terror designations, and reopened monument land to mining. China built an AI body instead. Two theories of power.
Global Brief: Jul 6 – Jul 12
NATO turned defense pledges into contracts, Washington rewarded Syria while squeezing Iran, and Brussels moved to fine Meta. Power is shifting to money.
Global Brief: Jun 29 – Jul 5
Israel and Lebanon signed a peace framework in Washington as oil fell nearly forty dollars a barrel since spring. Why the week's calm rests on a fragile base.
Global Brief: Jun 22 – Jun 28
The US ended its war with Iran, then brokered a landmark Israel-Lebanon peace deal days later. Finland lifted its nuclear weapons ban the same week.
Global Brief: Jun 15 – Jun 21
The US and Iran signed a peace deal ending three months of war. Europe locked Ukraine into accession talks and a 90-billion-euro loan in the same week.